


Respite

by canadino



Category: Arashi no Yoru ni | One Stormy Night
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Brothels, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-13 09:45:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16015352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canadino/pseuds/canadino
Summary: It was a dark and stormy night when Gabu visited one of Giro's pleasure houses, Pleasant Meadow.





	Respite

It was a dark and stormy night in the red-light district. The rain was coming down in sheets, blowing sideways and soaking Gabu’s shirt tight against his skin. It wasn’t particularly cold, but his clothes were becoming heavy from dampness and it was hard to see when water was dripping into his eyes. Shuffling a little faster, he arrived in front of the door for Pleasant Meadow, one of the many establishments in the neighborhood. It had a small circle of stained glass of green and white and brown in the shape of a goat’s head embedded in the polished wood. Gabu’s hand slipped once, twice against the slick doorknob before he managed to turn it and slip into dryer pastures. 

The waiting room was empty. The lights were dimmed low. Without the rain coming down, Gabu was more aware of how wet he was, water dripping from his cuffs onto the floor. The sight of him made the person at the desk leap up from his seat. “Gabu,” Mei said, before turning on his heels and rushing deeper into the shop before Gabu had a chance to greet him in response. Shaking out his hair, he stayed stock still to keep the water in one place to make for easier cleanup; Giro would have his hide if he knew one of his men was making a mess of one of his pleasure houses. Mei came back around, towels in hand, and quickly began to wrap them around him. 

“You’ll catch your death if you stand around like that,” Mei scolded, taking Gabu’s jacket from around his shoulders and hanging it on one of the hooks near the door. The towels were soft and downy, and it felt almost a shame to dry himself with them. But Mei ignored his hesitation and began rubbing the towel rigorously against his hair. “Honestly! Not taking an umbrella when you’re on patrol during the peak of spring shower season is just foolish.”  


“Is Giro here?”  


Mei’s hands faltered. “He’s back with one of the boys.” As he fell silent, Gabu could now hear, very faintly, the sound of someone groaning somewhere in the shop. Mei’s hands began to move the towel up against his forehead and around his neck, the movement drowning out the voice. “Did you need him? Should I go get him?”

“Nah, not right now. It can wait. I just wanted to deliver my report and see if there’s anything else he needs me to do.” His eyes traveled beyond the curve of Mei’s hip to the sign behind the desk, a stylized placard with the name _Pleasant Meadow_  and the goat head symbol. On the bottom of the sign was a small insignia of a wolf’s head, the brand of their gang. It was the same as the tattoo on Gabu’s forearm, right below the elbow. The boys in the shop had the outline of a wolf’s paw marked on them as well; Mei’s was on the soft, fleshy inside of his upper right thigh.   


The thought of Mei’s inner thighs made Gabu’s stomach heat and he hoped it wasn’t noticeable; if he dwelled on it, it might make the water evaporate off him like steam. “Well,” Mei said, now that Gabu was significantly drier than before, “if it isn’t urgent...maybe you can wait in my room? It’s a little less...sparse than out here.” The waiting room housed only two plastic seats and an idyllic mural of rolling hills where a pack of wolves were giving chase to a small herd of goats. “Barry’s with Tap right now too, so I don’t think they’ll be looking for you for a while.”

Gabu shook his head as he stood. “And I thought Giro said we shouldn’t be playing favorites with his shops. But he and Barry come here all the time.”

“Oh?” Mei turned to him as they made their way behind the counter and into the hallway behind the front entrance. “So is one of Giro’s other shops your favorite?” Gabu swallowed; he would never lie and say Mei’s eyes weren’t one of his top weaknesses, big and clear and blue. He ran a hand through his hair, still unruly despite the rain. Why had he forgotten to clean himself up and look presentable when he knew he would be stopping in at Pleasant Meadow? He was always skulking in like he’d rolled out of bed or just left a fight and Mei was almost always the one out in the front to see him first thing.  


“Well...I guess you’ve got me there.”   


Mei’s room was just the same as the other boys’ rooms - a large square with a bed neatly centered in the middle. But the sheets were unmade and there were several books and some dried vegetable snacks lying around, which Mei quickly grabbed and placed back behind the sliding closet doors. The light in the corner cast soft shadows around the room, elongating their shadows up against the walls. “I didn’t see anyone today,” Mei said quickly, looking bashful at being caught with his personal belongings strewn about. “I usually keep everything tucked away if I have any clients.”

Gabu knew Mei, just as he knew of all the other boys under Giro’s jurisdiction, but he was always learning snippets of who Mei was here and there. One of the books was a botany book on common decorative and edible plants; he noticed a small rooted pit in a shallow dish of water on the windowsill. Mei preferred to pick at his food at mealtime, with a diet sparse of meat, but snacked often and liked celery and other crunchy things. It was so strange to him still, despite having the authority over the boys in the shop as a member of the Wolves, that he did not know such simple things about Mei. He doubted Giro took the time to even learn the real names of his boys, and it felt so out of place to ask Mei to share what he would have been called back at home among family and childhood friends. But it was all fair, as Mei only knew him as Gabu and he would never endanger any of Giro’s boys by telling his true name. “So,” Gabu said, to district himself from his navel-gazing, “you usually have a lot of clients during the week?”

Mei patted a place on the bed next to him and Gabu sat down, the sudden weight distribution making a dip where Mei’s shoulder pressed up against his own. Gabu felt his stomach heat up again and willed himself to behave. Mei did not pull away - he tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, drawing Gabu’s eyes to the unmarked expanse of his neck down to where his collarbone peeked out from the collar of his shirt. His fingers twitched, but he held his hands firmly at his sides. Mei’s hair was soft and fluffy like cashmere, but it was not a luxury he could indulge in more than once. “Not many,” Mei admitted, glancing down and placing his hand next to Gabu’s. Was it selfish to wish that Mei had taken the initiative to put his hand on his own? Their pinkies touched. “I’m not technically on the roster yet and people usually don’t ask for the person behind the desk.”

“Then it’s a good thing Giro’s short-staffed and needs you to run the front for him.” Mei murmured in agreement, still looking down to where their fingers were now slowly overlapping. “Then...well-” Gabu had no idea why he was breaching this topic, especially when he wasn’t as smooth as Giro or as eloquent as Barry; it figured that he was still a low level lackey who only patrolled and ran errands. “I guess...that means...er, that you still remember...maybe...”  


“Of course I wouldn’t forget!” It was a memory Gabu thought he would never misplace either, no matter how many rival gang members hit him across the head or no matter how many times Barry beat him up to try and get him to improve his hand-to-hand combat. He had been smitten with the boy since Mei had started at Pleasant Meadow, not placed immediately on the roster since Giro had been reorganizing his men after a raid took out a third of his manpower. But on one of the snowy days after Christmas, when Giro was enjoying one of the Pleasant Meadow boys and Gabu and Mei were left on their own to clear the snow from the front, Mei had lost a pair of gloves in his room and in the middle of looking for them, they’d tumbled into bed, the prospect of being under thick, warm comforters much better than the cold waiting room. Mei’s kiss had been hotter than any blanket, and they’d finished just in time for Giro to find them back in the waiting room none the wiser. It wasn’t that Giro’s boys were off-limits to members of the Wolves - just, it was never a good idea to get attached and now Gabu was wishing Mei would never let go of his hand.  


The door opened unceremoniously and Barry strode in, the leer on his face as flashy as his brightly dyed red hair. Gabu and Mei had immediately sprung apart but Barry grabbed Gabu’s arm regardless and pulled him to his feet. “I thought I heard your voice back here, Gabu,” Barry laughed. “Kind of hard not to! It’s unmistakable when you try and talk all proper like.” He regarded Mei over his shoulder, the boy shrinking back into the bed at the arrival of another member of the Wolves. “I’m taking this one; Giro’ll be a while and he can just check in with me. You better get back out in front before Giro catches you slacking off, kid.”

“Yes,” Mei said, and Barry slammed the door behind him, dragging Gabu along.

“How cute,” Barry chirped as they left Pleasant Meadow. The rain had stopped and the lights from the shops around them glittered in the puddles. There were more people on the street, hurrying around before the next shower hit. “You’re young, so it’s normal to play at love. But I wouldn’t mess too much with that buck. Giro would never make him a Wolf, but it won’t be long before he samples everyone at that shop and picks a favorite to carry with him everywhere.”   


Gabu pulled himself out of Barry’s grasp, but the gesture only made the man laugh at him again. “Yeah? Who’s to say he doesn’t pick Tip for that spot?”

Barry scoffed. “Giro’s type isn’t someone with a little meat on their bones. But he doesn’t like ones with fight in them either.” Losing interest in Gabu, Barry strode on ahead, calling at him to follow his pace. But Gabu was thinking now - Mei had thrown out some rowdy customers before without the help of the Wolves and had learned how to fight after watching his mother fend off a pair of muggers as a child. He had forgotten his jacket at Pleasant Meadow, but when he went back for it, he’d tell Mei not to be afraid of Giro. Giro may be the boss of the Wolves, but the scar over his eye was not from a gang fight but from a disagreement with someone in one of his shops. If it came down to it, he would take Mei and run away with him; the world was large and there would be places where a Wolf and a boy from Pleasant Meadow could live in peace. Feeling encouraged, Gabu straightened out his now drying shirt and continued walking. 

**Author's Note:**

> I just rewatched this movie and was moved again...this time to write this monstrosity of a human!AU. It was hard to fit in goat terms since it's weird to refer to any human person as a goat (not to be mistaken with GOAT).


End file.
